Twelve Things: February's Pasta

For Christmas this year we didn't exchange presents and instead booked ourselves into a Jamie Oliver Recipease Pasta Master cookery class which we did this evening. The biggest revelation is how simple making your own pasta is - when we were in Montepulciano, the gnocci we made was pretty time consuming, but pasta is speedy and easy. The class was taught really well and concisely, and the chefs Jimmy and Simon came round and gave us extra tips and answered our questions at the end. We made four types of pasta: spaghetti, linguini, pappardelle and farfalle and a classic tomato, basil, garlic and chilli sauce with lashings of balsamic vinegar and virgin olive oil and with mounds of parmesan to taste. We all sat down after with a glass of vino and enjoyed the fruits of our labours. Now we know that pasta making is so achievable there is no excuse not to make it fresh at home... just need to get a pasta machine!

Looking back: in January I started to learn to swing.

Jamie's Diner

On Thursday, Dan and I had another culinary experience this time at Jamie Oliver's Diner on Shaftesbury Avenue. There's still a real trend from burgers and hot dogs in London but I must say that I prefer the latter. (I do miss our Saturday morning Chorlton sausage at Barbakan!) At Jamie's we both had porky dog with bacon and caramelised onions (and Dan had pulled pork too) which was delicious in a brioche bun with fries on the side served on a metal tray. For pud, we also both had chocolate milkshake which rounded off the meal very nicely. The diner had a really nice laid back atmosphere, a shame it's a complete contrast outside with the touristic madness of Leicester Square. Once you've pushed your way through the crowds it's well worth a visit.